Low Key

While a high-key photo is predominantly presented in white and light tones, low-key images are mostly very dark or black. When this kind of image works, it is because the darkness that encompasses most of the photo focuses attention on the areas that are not dark, providing a sense of mystery.

Low-key imagery tends to work because it is human nature to replace the mystery of darkness with imaginary scenes or objects.

To make this kind of image, you should look for an overall dark scene. In addition to a pervading sense of darkness, the scene needs to be lit with intermittent light. In an effective low-key image, one area of interest can specifically be lit; for example, the eyes in a portrait on a black velvet background, or a shaft of moonlight.

Alternatively, there can be lighting more spread out across a generally dark scene. In this case, it’s often effective to look for chiaroscuro—moody lighting that shows contrasts between shadows and brightness.

Post-processing techniques can help you create a low-key image after the fact (see pages 184–187). However, it is very desirable to start with a photographic subject that is appropriate for low-key treatment.

You should look for subjects that are largely dark with intermittent illumination of significant features, or specific areas lit either by direct light or using chiaroscuro.

As with high-key imagery, it’s desirable to bracket exposures in a low-key image, because a good creative low-key exposure may register in your camera’s light meter as surprisingly underexposed. Essentially, you want to expose for the lit part of your composition—and let the rest of the image go completely black.

Be careful to avoid an average light meter reading as the way to judge the brightness of a low-key scene. Since you really don’t care how dark the black background gets in these images, it’s best to take a spot meter reading of the lit areas of your subject, or to manually override the camera’s idea of the “correct” exposure by shifting the exposure “to the dark side.”

As I’ve noted, I do recommend bracketing, particularly in unusual exposure situations. Bracketing can be a very effective way to be sure that you get the best exposure for your creative purposes. You may be surprised at extent of “underexposure” needed to create a true low-key effect—I often find that I need to “underexpose” by a minimum of 3 EVs to create a real low-key effect.

Osteospermum—This small, delicate flower is a member of the daisy family (Asteraceae). I photographed this specimen growing outdoors on my front porch, using natural sunlight. Sometimes you don’t have to go far to make interesting images!

Nikon D850, 85mm macro, 1/5 of a second at f/11 and ISO 64, tripod mounted; converted to black and white and toned using Photoshop Adjustment layers and Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Sunset Beyond the Bridge—Along the Big Sur coast of California, the iconic Bixby Bridge has often been photographed. Arriving at this wonderful location once again, I decided to try a new angle of view, namely making my way behind the bridge so I could locate the bridge in front of the setting sun. Since the bridge and the foreground were in shadow, and the sun was, of course, as bright as the sun, I knew I would need a wide range of exposures to capture all elements of the scene. I stopped my lens down to its smallest opening (f/32) in order to create a star burst effect with the setting sun.

Nikon D810, 62mm, six exposures at f/32 and ISO 64, shutter speeds ranging from 1/125 of a second to 1/4000 of a second, tripod mounted; converted to black and white using Photoshop Adjustment layers.